Carl,
This is getting ridiculous. Either you're deliberately misinterpreting what I'm saying, or you need to read my words a bit closer.
My point is that the occupation of Europe was supposed to be temporary. That was the agreement reached at Yalta. But Stalin never had any plans on giving up the territory he had conquered, nor give the people occupied by Nazi Germany their self-determination. And when he finally obtained nuclear capability, the West lost any chance of being able to threaten him with nuclear attack if he didn't retreat to the border of the USSR.
yale.edu
They jointly declare their mutual agreement to concert during the temporary period of instability in liberated Europe the policies of their three Governments in assisting the peoples liberated from the domination of Nazi Germany and the peoples of the former Axis satellite states of Europe to solve by democratic means their pressing political and economic problems.
The establishment of order in Europe and the rebuilding of national economic life must be achieved by processes which will enable the liberated peoples to destroy the last vestiges of nazism and fascism and to create democratic institutions of their own choice. This is a principle of the Atlantic Charter - the right of all people to choose the form of government under which they will live - the restoration of sovereign rights and self-government to those peoples who have been forcibly deprived to them by the aggressor nations.
To foster the conditions in which the liberated people may exercise these rights, the three governments will jointly assist the people in any European liberated state or former Axis state in Europe where, in their judgment conditions require,
(a) to establish conditions of internal peace;
(b) to carry out emergency relief measures for the relief of distressed peoples;
(c) to form interim governmental authorities broadly representative of all democratic elements in the population and pledged to the earliest possible establishment through free elections of Governments responsive to the will of the people; and
(d) to facilitate where necessary the holding of such elections.
The three Governments will consult the other United Nations and provisional authorities or other Governments in Europe when matters of direct interest to them are under consideration.
When, in the opinion of the three Governments, conditions in any European liberated state or former Axis satellite in Europe make such action necessary, they will immediately consult together on the measure necessary to discharge the joint responsibilities set forth in this declaration.
By this declaration we reaffirm our faith in the principles of the Atlantic Charter, our pledge in the Declaration by the United Nations and our determination to build in cooperation with other peace-loving nations world order, under law, dedicated to peace, security, freedom and general well-being of all mankind.
Ahhh... such noble words.. but worth only as much as the paper they were written upon. When it came down to it, we traded one tyrant for another, Hitler for Stalin.
But Hitler was somehow a really nasty creature, while we never seemed to generate the same level of disgust for Stalin and his brutal occupation of Eastern Europe.
Why the western powers didn't carry out any threatened nuclear attack against Stalin is a matter of debate. It was obviously suggested by the US military, but the politicians deemed that they could't "sell it" to the world. But did they try? Did they really try and make the argument that Stalin has betrayed the "trust" Roosevelt and Churchill had placed in him that he could "change his stripes"??
And were they willing to make Stalin "blink", as he likely would have when faced with nuclear annihilation??
Apparently not.
And alas, that's where we stand, once again, with Saddam Hussein. Give him the opportunity to obtain nuclear weapons and he'll suddenly become the Joseph Stalin of the Mid-East, subjugating his neighbors and creating buffer states from which to spread his influence.
I know you disagree with me, Carl. But I see it as clearly as the sun in the sky. And it's not merely my "hawkish" nature speaking here. It's the reality of the economic and demographic trends in the muslim world.
Hawk |
